Pak FM meets leaders of BNP, Jamaat, NCP

Visiting Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar met separately with leaders of BNP, Jamaat e Islami and NCP on the first day of his Dhaka trip.

Mr Dar arrived in Dhaka on Saturday afternoon by a special flight on a two-day visit. He landed at around 2:00 pm.

The unresolved issues related to the war of independence of Bangladesh in 1971, bilateral trade promotion, revival of SAARC were highlighted in their discussions, said political leaders after the meetings.

A BNP delegation led by Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir met the Pakistan Deputy PM at the Pakistan High Commission at 7:00 pm.

"We stressed enhancing bilateral ties and promotion of trade and investment," said Naib-e-Ameer of Jamaat E Islami, Abdullah Muhammad Taher, who led a six-member delegation of his party in a meeting with the Pak FM.

NCP leader Nasiruddin Patwari said that they presented the perception of Bangladeshi people about Pakistan and focused on the unresolved issues of 1971 war.

The Pakistan Deputy Prime Minister assured them of resolving the issues, he said adding that the revival of SAARC, platform of South Asian countries, also came up in their meeting with Mr Dar. Earlier, Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam received the Pakistan Foreign Minister at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

Mr Dar is scheduled to hold meetings with the Chief Adviser of Bangladesh's interim government, Professor Muhammad Yunus, Foreign Affairs Adviser Md. Touhid Hossain, today (Sunday).

He will meet BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia at her Gulshan residence at 7:00 pm on the same day.

Following the political change over in Bangladesh after August 5, 2024 Ishaq Dar is the third member of Pakistan's cabinet to visit Dhaka.

Earlier, Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi visited Dhaka in July, and last Wednesday Pakistan's Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan also came to Dhaka.

Officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told this correspondent that on the second day of the visit on Sunday morning, Ishaq Dar will hold one-to-one and delegation-level meetings with Foreign Affairs Adviser Md. Touhid Hossain. Following the nearly two-hour discussions, six agreements and memoranda of understanding (MoUs) between the two countries are expected to be finalised for signing.

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